Daily AncestorHome-maker
Home-maker, marked with an H after the relationship such as "Wife-H", showed who ran the home and cared for the family in the 1930 census.
The 1930 instructions asked the enumerator to mark which member of each family was responsible for the care of the home and family by adding the letter H to that person's relationship. Only one person per family was to get it.
Usually it is the wife, but a widowed mother, a daughter or a sister can carry the H, which tells you who actually kept house. The H after the relationship appears only in 1930; in 1940 an H in column 25 meant a person busy with home housework.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Home-maker." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/census-terms/home-maker. Last checked 2026-10-03.